To the great Irish people, to the kind-hearted families who prepared their homes to welcome us as if welcoming their own children, to the free political parties, to everyone who wrote a letter, made a call, or expressed their solidarity, to the volunteers and donors, who gave from their hearts before their wallets, from their time before their comfort, to the wonderful and sincere Irish members of GAA Palestine, who spared no effort and dedicated thousands of hours of their precious time to plan, coordinate, and strive for the success of this tour; we extend to you our deepest gratitude and respect.
From our devastated and war-torn camps, we send this message filled with appreciation and heartfelt thanks to the entire Irish people. You overwhelmed us with your compassion, astonished us with your humanity, and reminded us that there are still nations in this world that believe in justice and actively pursue it. You were our hope, our refuge. You carried with us a dream that has long lived in the hearts of our children, a dream of play, of freedom, of dignity.
We watched you rise, one by one, in defense of our right to a human, cultural, and sporting experience on your kind soil. We saw our names written in your letters, the faces of our children fluttering in your hearts, and even though we did not physically arrive, we felt, through your support, that we had truly reached our second home: Ireland.
As for the decision by the Irish government not to issue the visas, it was deeply painful for children whose only dream was to board a plane for the first time, to learn a new sport, to see the sea, something they have never experienced. We respect the sovereignty of your decisions, for this is part of our respect for the state.
Yet our hearts clung to a small hope: that humanity might prevail for once; that children might be seen as children, not as files to be examined, that sport might be given the space to heal what politics has long failed to. We had hoped this decision would be an open door to life, not a window shut in the face of childhood searching for hope.
We aren't angry; we are wounded. We aren't merely sad; we are more determined than ever to live. We have grown used to our dreams colliding with the walls of politics. But this time, we came away with the most precious thing one can gain in a life where we are killed every day; We gained the love of the Irish people. And we promise you this dream won't die. Hurling will continue to be played in Palestine, just as it is played in Ireland as if we had come and returned.
To the Irish people: you are the light in our darkness, the living, eternal pulse in times of abandonment. And to the Irish government, we say; may the face of a child one day be placed above the stamp of rejection, and may hope, just once, be given a chance to live.
by saoirsedonciaran
17 comments
Legends, fling your doors wide open.
A great decision from the Government in my opinion. They’re finally turning a corner.
It’s an emotive issue but the visa process is designed to assess risk and like it or not there is a very significant risk of them claiming protection as soon as they arrive, it would also be very hard to prove that all of them are genuine GAA players.
Edit: it seems a sense of righteous indignation makes it hard for some people to read. I’m not saying I agree with it, I’m not the Irish state, I’m explaining the probable decision making by the department.
“free political parties”? What on earth is this for? Every political party supports the rights of Palestinians – are they trying to ostracise some?
Based on what’s been reported, the organisers didn’t provide details required for the visa to be granted, like itinerary, accommodation, vetting of host families etc. Whole thing seemed very poorly organised. There’s a set of procedures in place for every visa, it can’t just be ignored on moral ground.
Seems unfair considering our open borders policy.
The hyperbole in the attempts of them to blame the state and not their own inexperienced poor planning
What a terrible statement. Seven paragraphs of emotive waffle.
Maybe the government were wrong to deny the visas. But there is no information in this statement to make a judgement either way. Have they made statements elsewhere on the visa application process and why they think it was refused? My understanding is that not all the required information was provided?
There might be legal reasons for them to not disclose the reasons for their refusal in this statement but aside from this, I’m not sure what the point of this statement is other than to again pull at the heartstrings of people who by and large are already on the same page as them.
Most people would wholeheartedly support this tour, it’s great for those kids and I hope it happens but why can’t they just submit their paperwork properly or are the authorities just arbitrarily refusing them? If they are, they should be criticized.
The whole thing seems unclear to me.
This is the kind of drivel you post when you haven’t a leg to stand on
A lot of hyperbole in that. The Irish government didn’t make any decisions or refuse to do anything. In fact, the government *not* directly interfering in the immigration/visa process is exactly what we want. The founder of GAA Palestine asked for the Taoiseach to overrule the decision, which is bare-faced corruption.
I’m not 100% sure what exactly is the truth here about whether they supplied enough information, but it’s not a stretch to suggest that an application to temporarily bring 47 people for a GAA tour from a warzone (which incidentally is not a GAA stronghold) into Ireland would be subject to considerable extra scrutiny to look out for fraud.
So I’m leaning on the side of the immigration service here.
Very understandable why visas were not granted
I hate bureaucracy as much as the next person, but entering a country is difficult outside of the EU. Particularly if travelling with lots of kids. I’ve heard of parents who don’t exchange surnames having issues traveling with kids.
I think it’s most likely that the Irish gov played this entire process to a tee with over caution. But I also think the organisers probably didn’t supply everything perfectly.
Should allowances have been made? Maybe. There was a chance for someone to step in.
It’s very funny how quickly this sub swings from pro-palestine to apathy
Rovers had kids over no bother in 2017, nobody in the civil service would block this unless the organisers didn’t do this correctly
If there was such thing as an investigative reporter these days I’d ask them to look into who made the decision to deny them.
If it meant that much, it’s a pity that the thing wasn’t organised properly – you can’t just take a bunch of kids from one country to another without due dilligence. The proper paperwork, vetting etc.
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